It was a successful semester at the Student Success Center with several students from the Center graduating at the 2013 Commencement Ceremony, and moving on with an abundance of scholarships. Three students: Karla Cruz, Lizmarie Peralta and Elizabeth Pena have been determined to succeed since stepping on campus a couple of years ago. All three graduated with Honors and received lucrative scholarships to attend Suffolk University, UMASS-Boston and St. Joseph’s College, respectively. However, they did not know where their natural academic abilities would lead them and ongoing conversations at the Center helped them shuffle and weave through the complexities of higher education.

Karla cruised through the ESL program and most of her Business degree, but she wanted a challenge, something that would set her apart from the rest of the pack. During one of her one-to-one sessions, she expressed her desire to apply to Suffolk Law School’s Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars Program (PLUS), an “intensive four-week summer opportunity for undergraduate students to learn more about the practice of law and what it takes to become a successful law student.” Karla received help at the Center with the essay, resume and interview necessary for the application process. She was accepted and completed the program in the summer of 2012. In May 2013, Karla accepted Suffolk’s $18,000 scholarship offer and plans to attend the university in Fall 2013.

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” This opening from Charles Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities, illustrates the two extremes of college. Either we’re passing or not. Either we graduate, move on and help with our families’ struggles or we stay stuck at a dead end job. Fortunately, life does not function in such a black & white manner and the journey means more than the destination. In other words, you will remember the ups and downs of college more than the stage walk to receive your degree.

Jean Carlos is the perfect example of a student who came to the Center without many study skills, but understood that college is a marathon and not a sprint. When he first came to the Center, he was failing most of his courses, but he did not get discouraged. He continued to come almost every day, did his homework, asked for help and kept active on campus.